Overall cost of InkJet vs LaserJet

I would suggest you pick out a few lasers in your price range and then check the cost of the toner cartridge. You will quickly see the rip off.
I found some HP's that cost about $200 - for the cheapo laser, but about $147 dollars for a new cartridge.
I went with a Samsung because the toner was about $75. The discussion about that model is here. https://forums.macrumors.com/showthread.php?s=&threadid=33903

If speed isn't too important, get a LaserWriter IIsc and a USB-SCSI adaptor. Great, super-reliable printer, with $70-80 toner carts.

before you commit to laser

Check out

http://www.inksupply.com

Epson and Canon printers tend to have more aftermarket ink options such as refills, 3rd party cartridges, and CIS *(Continuous Inking Systems) than HP or Lexmark, but otherwise, bulk ink is considerably less expensive than oem cartridges.

If you want photo quality, color output, as well as low cost black prints, I recommend you consider these.

*I've been using an Epson 1280 with a CIS system from nomorecarts without a hitch since the 1280 hit the market (2.5 years), using bulk ink from MIS (inksupply.com).

I was in this same boat about 2 weeks ago. I got a Lexmark Z32 free with my iBook about 2 years ago - and never had a problem with it. The only thing that bothered me, though, is that I printed color very infrequently and thus the color cartridge dried up on me a few times. The other shortcoming with it was the inability to share it to my girlfriend's Windows 2000 laptop - so she couldn't print from it at all (go go OS X windows file sharing for that one).

It came time to buy 2 new cartridges a few weeks ago - and rather than spending $60 on them (and after seeing these guys get a Samsung for $75 on here) , I found a LaserWriter 16/600 PS WITH the 500-page paper cassette that sits on the bottom for $50 on ebay. A steal, I tell you. Shipping was $20 and the guy threw in a brand new toner cartridge. A quick trip over to the computer junk shop got me an AAUI -> RJ-45 transceiver and now I have TCP/IP printing - and she can finally print. The LaserWriter is 100% compatible with Windows via parallel port and TCP/IP.

Careful with the toner cartridges on this model though - office depot sells the genuine apple cartridge for $136, but the office depot generic brand - or even the HP equivalent (yes, HP cartridges fit most laserwriters I've found out) are less than half of that (lowest I've seen is $65).

I hope this helps.